Winter has arrived. It’s taken its time. We’ve been accustomed to mildness, and lots of mud. Suddenly though, sunrise has been that rich blazing orangey-red, with vibrant yellow, that seems to arrive only on very cold days. And Jack Frost has been amusing himself by designing complicated patterns on car windscreens, making sure they’re good and hard to scrape off by a would-be early driver.
Last Friday, we travelled over the Pennines to Bolton. The hills were, for the first time this year, covered with snow. We even had the mini-adventure of battling through a mini-blizzard. And the next day, we travelled back. Cars slithering and careering wildly, or worse, along icy roads, closed our usual road home: instead we diverted across bleak moorland via Todmorden, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Howarth and Keighley – a real Wuthering Heights landscape, meeting only very hardy sheep for much of the way. These were the views.
From Pyrenees to Pennines 
Beautiful landscapes….we’ve not had any snow yet and i’m hoping it stays that way. I love snow…..in pictures:)
LikeLike
Quite. They’re the best place for snow. The best thing about those pics is that they were taken from a moving car. I didn’t want to get out. Brrrr!
LikeLike
Very barren and cold looking scenes – sounds a bit of a hair-raising drive when it’s icy. Hope there was a blazing fire waiting when you got home!
LikeLike
It looked bleaker than it really was. It had hotted up to -4 by then. But no log fire, sadly 😦
LikeLike
How lucky you are to see the hills covered with snow! Here in Ariège snow is only covering the mountains’tops! But in some days I’ll fly to Krakow to spend Xmas there in my daughter-in-law’s family! Very cold temperatures and maybe snow will meet us! It will be for me a real pleasure! As you don’t really like cold and snow, have a nice warm Xmas with your family and friends!
LikeLike
Bonnes fêtes en Pologne, alors! Non non, j’aime bien l’hiver et la neige. Ce sont des raquettes que je déteste. Oui, la famille va venir ici. Même Emily de Barcelone. Joyeux Noël!
LikeLike
I do envy you living in an area almost guaranteed snow each winter. I was very disappointed last year with barely a flake.
LikeLike
Oh, we don’t always get it. And this was on distant hillsides. We had to travel to see some. Snowlessness notwithstanding, Happy Christmas!
LikeLike
Hi Margaret–I’m finally here, to see these great photos! I love how austere the landscape is and the place names are so different and exotic to my American ears. The drive sounds kind of hair-raising–we saw an oncoming car slide in a complete 180 degree turn the other day as it approached us. That focuses ones concentration on driving like nothing else!
LikeLike
Hi Kerry – I was thinking of people like you when I included all those place names. They’re so northern: you wouldn’t even find them in the south of England. Great, aren’t they? The ice and snow have gone to be replaced by wind and rain. Hope you have a happy Christmas!
LikeLike